BAHAMASAIR, the Bahamian flag carrier, temporarily
will suspend service from Nassau to three Andros Island airports as
of Sept. 6, while it looks to subcontract the inter-island routes
to a partner airline. The carrier removed the destinations Andros
Town, San Andros and South Andros, also known as Congo Town, from
its GDS and online Web booking site [www.bahamasair.com]
but expects to restore booking capabilities for the Andros Island
airports within the next 45 days, said Tyrone Sawyer, director of
international sales. Meanwhile, competing airline Western Air
continues to serve the three affected airports, as well as a fourth
Andros destination, Mangrove Cay, from Nassau.
BUILDING ON THE SUCCESS of last year's program,
Puerto Rico again designated September as Travel Agent Month -- and
added lots more goodies to sweeten the pot. "Our travel agent
partners play a vital role in making Puerto Rico a leading vacation
destination," said Jose Suarez, executive director of Puerto Rico
Tourism Co. "We want to keep bringing them to Puerto Rico to
experience our activities and culture." Incentives this year
include discounted rates at lots more hotels and paradores
(family-owned inns); special Hertz rental car rates; reduced fares
on Spirit Airlines, American and United; and a chance to win a
three-night stay at the Ritz-Carlton San Juan Spa & Casino.
Details can be found at www.gotopuertorico.com.
LODGEPODGE
• Luxury resort chain Raffles International will enter the
Caribbean market in 2004 when it begins operating a refurbished
Rosewood property on Canouan Island in the Grenadines. The former
Carenage Bay Beach and Golf Resort is set to reopen next summer as
the Raffles Resort Canouan Island, The Grenadines.
• Viva Resorts launched its Viva Junior's Club, aimed at the
often-neglected and sometimes-difficult-to-please market:
teenagers. Designed specifically for the needs of travelers between
the ages of 13 and 18, the complimentary program will be in effect
at Viva's all-inclusive, child-friendly properties in the Bahamas,
the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Coming in November is Viva
Tangerine in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, which will be the resort
chain's seventh property. Viva recently entered into an alliance
with Wyndham International to rebrand their resorts as Viva Wyndham
Resorts. Effective Dec. 1, the contact number for Viva will be
(800) WYNDHAM; the Web site will be located at www.wyndham.com. In
the meantime, find information at www.vivaresorts.com.
THE VIRGIN ISLANDS PORT AUTHORITY voted to roll
back, effective Oct. 1, its 25% increase in passenger and landing
fees charged to the airlines serving St. Thomas and St. Croix. The
board also voted to revamp the fee structure charged to passenger
ferries so that St. Thomas-St. Croix ferries now will pay the same
Port Authority fees that the St. Thomas-St. John ferries do. The
original landing fee increase, which took effect last Feb. 1 to
plug a $5 million budget shortfall, was criticized by the airlines
and many segments of the business and tourism sectors. Tourism
officials hope that the fee rollback could lead to an increase in
air traffic and passenger volume for the upcoming winter
season.